“Esprit de Corps” is a series of events to promote, encourage and motivate all ages to become physically active as a means to participate in Art. These participatory events include various open experiments in gathering, interactive behavior, field design, sound tracking and accoutrement. New sport is created with various paraphernalia: its uniforms, instruments, anthems, awards and opening ceremonies.

“Esprit de Corps” is a gift to the people of Berlin by “E.T.”, a temporary collective of seven multidisciplinary artists who have united forces ‘to take over the art scene’ in Berlin for a short moment of time. The members of E.T. are Øh1Øm1ke (NYC), Yannis Angelopoulos (Berlin), Laura Arena (NYC), Bittertang (NYC and Guadalajara), Stephanie Homa (London), TJ Hospodar (NYC), and Tina Schott (Antwerp).

The opening ceremony will include various performances, ceremonies and programs will be handed out listing “Esprit de Corps” events, happening at various times and locations throughout the city of Berlin.

Opening Ceremony of “Esprit de Corps” will commence at 7pm on May 18th at Okazi Gallery. All the people of Berlin are encouraged to attend and participate. Okazi Gallery will be headquarters for “Esprit de Corps” located at Türrschmidtstr 18, 10317 Berlin, Germany. For more information visit http://okazigallery.

“E.T.” is a temporary artist collective, formed by artist and curator Laura Arena of Lucky Gallery in Brooklyn, New York. “E.T.” is comprised of six artists who have united forces ‘to take over the art scene’ in Berlin for a short moment of time. “E.T.” will be working on site at Okazi Gallery (pikaloki.com/okazigallery) and will be also holding events on behalf of Month of Performance Art, in Berlin. “E.T.” members are multidisciplinary artists residing in New York City, Berlin, Guadalajara, London, and Antwerp.

The root of their collaboration will be in the method of the ‘exquisite corpse’, a technique invented by the Surrealists in the early 1900’s, which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to the composition in a sequence either by following a rule or by being allowed to see the end of what the previous person contributed. “E.T.” uses this process as the starting point for their collaboration, which began several months before arrival to Berlin.

“Through this process of the ‘exquisite corpse’ a large amount of new work will be created between those located in Europe and those in the United States”, says Arena. “This work will encompass all our methods of art making and will mold us into a cohesive unit in preparation for our time in Berlin. The intent is to have these exercises be the framework for our collaboration in Berlin and this process will be demonstrated on the walls of Okazi Gallery.”

“E.T.” is also a participant of Month of Performance Art –Berlin (www.mpa-b.org), a month-long platform dedicated to highlighting, promoting and interconnecting the wealth and diversity of independent, contemporary and experimental performance art practices thriving in Berlin. E.T. is offering “Esprit de Corps”, a series of events to promote, encourage and motivate all ages to become physically active as a means to participate in Art.

“Out of these exquisite corpse exercises and our unification in Berlin, we will be creating a new sport and its various paraphernalia: its uniforms, instruments, anthems, awards and opening ceremonies”, says Michael Loverich, member of Bittertang. “Unlike most sporting events which are organized in advance around commonly understood rules our sports will be created on site, in the context of our temporary and intimate union in Berlin and directed by our new found friendships and interests. It will be an open experiment in gathering, interactive behavior, field design, sound tracking and accoutrement.”

Opening Ceremony of “Esprit de Corps” will commence at 7pm on May 18th at Okazi Gallery. All the people of Berlin are encouraged to attend and participate. The opening ceremony will include various performances and programs will be handed out listing Esprit de Corps events happening at various times throughout Berlin.

Okazi Gallery will be the hub of all the activity by the collective. The exhibition is about the process of this collaboration rather than the work itself. Okazi Gallery is located at Türrschmidtstr. 18, 10317 Berlin, Germany. The opening reception is on May 18th at 6pm and opening ceremony for “Esprit de Corps” is at 7pm.